Thrillers are another genre that I don’t read often, but after reading Cinders I just had to find out what [a:Michelle Davidson Argyle|3432663|Michelle Davidson Argyle|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287777395p2/3432663.jpg] had to offer next. When I heard that it was a thriller I have to admit that I was a little cautious, but after reading it I can safely say there was nothing I didn’t love about this story.

Monarch, to me, isn’t just a thriller – it’s a romance, a mystery, an adventure story with plenty of family issues all cohesively winding together to create a thrilling story. I wanted to know more about every single character and I have to admit that I often found myself thinking and wondering about them (and sometimes forgetting that they aren’t real people I know!) when I wasn’t reading.

Michelle has seriously upped her game with Monarch – I was constantly trying to work out what was going to happen (and no, I didn’t manage to guess most of the twists and turns) and when I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be reading it. She also weaves the imagery of monarchs (a type of butterfly) throughout, giving this thiller a unique undercurrent of threat and hope.

This is a gripping tale that I highly recommend to anyone wanting to escape reality for a while (it will also put your problems in perspective), in fact, it’s so good that I’ve put it back on my ‘to-read’ list as I miss all the characters (that’s a big deal for me as I very rarely re-read anything) and I just know I’ll be able to delve deeper the next time.

[Disclaimer: I received a paperback ARC in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]